


Stuck on You

by NevaRYadL



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Background miragehound, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, background lobalore, background revfinder, but mostly fluff i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NevaRYadL/pseuds/NevaRYadL
Summary: WARNING: Gibraltar/Crypto, mlm fluff, soulmates au, mild angst, fluffsoulmate au gibto
Relationships: Crypto | Park Tae Joon/Makoa Gibraltar
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	Stuck on You

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: Gibraltar/Crypto, mlm fluff, soulmates au, mild angst, fluff
> 
> soulmate au gibto

Makoa Gibraltar.

That was the name of the person on the inside of Crypto's wrist, hidden underneath a glove with a bit of length over the wrist like most everyone. Crypto was sure that someone told him at one point where the tradition of hiding your soulmate or soulmates' names came from, but he did not remember now. Just that he did it like everyone else, especially now that his life had been destroyed and he was living underneath an alias while the world forgot about him. Hidden from view, just like everyone else.

"You know what I find weird?" Mirage said as they all waited for the dropship to drop them into another round of games. "I mean good weird, by the way. That the name changes if like... your soulmate is transgender or they get a legal name change. Weird!"

He was sure that his had not if it was on someone or someones' wrists, because Crypto was not his name, not who he was. It was a cover, something to hide behind, something to protect him.

"Yeah man! I saw mine change when I got my name changed," Octane piped up. "I mean it took a few days, it got really blurry for awhile, and then one day it had my real name on it!"

"I remember, ya called me up freaking out," Lifeline laughed, smacking her foot against Octane's metal one. "But no one knows. The soulmate mark has been something that science just can't figure out."

He minded his own business.

The name on his wrist... was from a different life, for a different life. Some where out there, someone's wrist said Tae Joon Park and they would just have to wait until he could reclaim his life or... learn to live without. That was fine... maybe if he said it enough, he would believe it himself.

He minded his own fucking business.

Fast forward some games.

"Anita Bangalore, read em and weep!" Loba said, baring her wrist for the group to see one day as they waited for the dropship to take them home.

It was not so taboo anymore that you could not walk around showing off your wrist, it had been a few decades since those times, and it certainly was not frowned upon to show off the person that you were connected with. There was still something just a little forward about Loba being so quick to rip off her wristband and show off 'Anita Bangalore' marked on the inside of her right wrist. Though no one said anything, just looking at the clear mark while Bangalore herself turned a few shades of red off to the side.

"Come on, come on, I shared! Some of you guys share!"

The first brave soul after Loba was the loud mouth Mirage. He pulled of his wrist band to show everyone... runes?

"SOMEONE had me thinking my wrist was haunted or cursed or some shit most of my teens," Mirage huffed, giving Bloodhound a playful pout. Bloodhound just chuckled softly.

"Pfft, skinbags," Revenant muttered.

"Mine says 'Revenant'!" Pathfinder declared.

Revenant refused to look at the lot as they gave him all looks.

"How about you, big guy!" Lifeline said, nudging Gibraltar.

And Crypto knew but... there was no way that a good man like him was the same one on his wrist. It would be cruel, cruel punishment if the big man was the same on his wrist and on Gibraltar was the name of a man whose reputation was sullied and spoiled.

"I... don't want to talk about it," Gibraltar chuckled sheepishly.

"What? Embarrassed?" Loba asked, now interested.

"It's just... uh... you know that database that everyone uses to find their soulmates? Well... from when it appeared on my wrist to about the time I was an adult, I looked at the site every day looking for him," Gibraltar said, looking down at the ground and the extremely rare sight of a sad look appearing on his otherwise normally happy face. "And well... never found him on there. On a whim not too long ago I just searched his name and well..."

"Wellll?" Mirage asked.

"He uh... he's a bad man. He killed his sister and ran when law tried to track him down for it," Gibratlar sighed heavily.

"Ouch Gibby, that's... that's shit," Octane muttered.

"Yeah so... I uh... don't like talking about it," Gibraltar said, giving them all a pained plastic smile.

"How about you, short, broody and handsome?" Loba asked, turning to look up at him.

"I don't like talking about it either," Crypto settled on.

Fast forward a few more games.

"Hey Cry!" Makoa grinned.

"Hey Gibby," Crypto said back, nodding his head in greeting.

"Ready to head out?" Gibraltar, throwing his thumb out the way they were heading.

"Yeah."

They were friends. It was too easy to be friends with Gibraltar. He was an open book of smiles and laughs, and maybe a little reckless in throwing himself in dangers way to help others, but Crypto could admire that about that and scold him when he came back from a round of games with a bruise and a winning smile. Gibraltar had a moral code and Crypto... he could admire that. It was too easy to be friends with Gibraltar. It was too easy to like him more than friends, but Crypto kept that to himself. So they were heading out to eat lunch together.

"Man, Octane won't stop talking about this spot, brother, I can't wait to try it," Gibraltar said as they walked.

"Hmm."

They walked a bit... until Gibraltar deadstopped.

"What?"

"Just... that," Gibraltar said before pointing at a wanted poster.

Crypto thickly swallowed. It was his wanted poster.

"That's his name..." Gibraltar breathed.

Crypto's heart squeezed tight to the point of pain. So he was the Makoa Gibraltar on his wrist. That meant that... on Makoa's wrist...

"Sorry, sorry, let's go," Gibraltar said.

And...

Sometime later, a few more games, a few more outings. Crypto had fallen in love despite everything in his head screaming at him to not too, because it was too easy to fall in love with Makoa Gibraltar. And it hurt all the more.

"I was framed," Crypto said.

"Framed... for what, Cry?" Gibby asked, sounding rightfully confused.

They were in the dropship. Everyone else was not yet on. It was just the two of them and it felt like they were the only ones in the world right now, in this moment.

"My sister, they tried to kill her when we found out that someone was rigging the games," Crypto said, leisurely walking over. It would be quick, like ripping off a band-aid. It was better to bleed than act like something was not infected. "Tried, they didn't kill her, she's somewhere safe. They still tried to blame me for it, to force me to hide instead of revealing what I knew."

"Wait..." Gibraltar said.

"The name on the inside of your wrist is Tae Joon Park," Crypto said quietly. "My name. My real name."

"You..."

Crypto shoved his sleeve up his arm and pulled off his glove, showing Gibraltar the inside of his wrist and his own name there, rubbing the skin to show that it was indeed marked into his skin.

"... Cry..." Gibraltar muttered, unable to tear his eyes away from the mark in Crypto's skin.

"I lie a lot to save myself, to save my sister, to save my caretaker. I don't like to lie to you, so I decided to just... stop. You can believe me if you want," Crypto said, replacing his glove. "Or not. My purpose in life is to reclaim my life, to reveal the truth. You... you deserve better than me. Now that you know the truth... well... you're free."

Crypto left the dropship, leaving Gibraltar to just sit there shell shocked.

It took a few more games for anything to happen. Gibraltar avoided him and he avoided Gibraltar, even if it left his heart feeling like it had been ripped in half and stomped on. It would be better for a good man like Makoa to find a good man for himself. Find that loving husband that would love and cherish him like he deserved. Gibraltar deserved a better life with someone that was not Crypto. He would hurt, and the two of them would move on, and who knew? Maybe the names on their wrists would change like they sometimes did.

Except...

"Can I see your wrist again?"

It was just the two of them towards the back of the ship. It had been a brutal game, most everyone was dead quiet or passed out while Lifeline patched them up quietly, nursing her own pains and bruises. Gibraltar had seen her about a cut on his face, and then had awkwardly shuffled over to the very back where he was sitting. His heart actively ached at the sound of his voice, but he did not let it show. So instead he numbly undid his glove and showed Gibraltar his wrist, surprised when Gibraltar took up his hand gently to look at it, a calloused thumb rubbing against the skin to show that the ink pulled and moved with it like a deep set tattoo.

"... I believe you."

"... What?"

"I believe you," Gibraltar said quietly, squeezing Crypto's hand once before letting it go so that Crypto could pull on his glove again.

"... But... why?" Crypto asked.

"I realized that, given that people are looking for you, why reveal yourself to me? The person most likely out of our group to turn someone in for a crime. You took a huge risk and... I don't know, you seem like you're hiding a good heart. You seem like you got a code. I respect you so... I believe you."

"... Makoa..."

Gibraltar gently bumped him with his elbow giving Crypto a small but genuine and warm smile. 

"I don't know how to help you, but I'm here if you need me, Tae," Gibraltar smiled at him. "I'll be with you from here until the end. That way I can take you home and introduce you to my folks!"

Crypto grinned and chuckled a little, leaning against Gibraltar.

"It's a date."


End file.
